Spy Hard 1996

John Petrakis, Chicago Tribune: As funny as Nielsen can be, like all comic actors he still needs the quick-thinking jokes and zingy one-liners to be genuinely funny. Read more

Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel: More of a cinematic joke book than a real movie, Spy Hard hits you with gags faster than Henny Youngman on speed. Even when individual bits misfire, the unrelenting barrage of silliness can break down your resistance. Read more

Desmond Ryan, Philadelphia Inquirer: The jokes come in sporadic volleys rather than the steady machine-gun pace of The Naked Gun and Airplane!, and, with a few exceptions, they are less truly aimed. Read more

Doug Thomas, Seattle Times: Spy Hard just comes off as a long commercial. And yes, that means most of the best moments you've seen in the movie's trailer. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: When Spy Hard abruptly ends after only 81 minutes, you sense that it has used up every last round of available ammunition. It was simply exhausted and couldn't move another inch. Read more

David Kronke, Los Angeles Times: This movie unfortunately wastes a perfectly promising idea -- satirizing James Bond films along with any other pop-culture celluloid phenomenon that crosses the filmmakers' minds. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Spy Hard is a loose send-up of the Bond series and other overly expensive action flicks, but after Hot Shots! Part Deux and National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1 who needs another action parody? Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: A dreadfully unfunny comedy that takes Naked Gun-like sketches and rehashes them without a whit of style or energy. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Nielsen, with his expert deadpan and sense of comic timing, creates the illusion of humor -- for about 15 minutes. Read more

Derek Adams, Time Out: Like Hot Shots! there's the same mistaken belief that simply tagging other films will be intrinsically funny... Read more

Variety Staff, Variety: The picture that will test the durability of Leslie Nielsen's lowbrow franchise, Spy Hard sticks closely to the Naked Gun formula. Not only is the formula itself wearing thin, but the gags themselves feel recycled. Read more

Rita Kempley, Washington Post: Never mind that the smutty, high-tech 007 capers already wink at the conventions of the bikini-clad, gizmo-strewn genre. If the martini is shaken, not stirred, why beat it to death with a swizzle stick? Read more